CHENNAI: After facing protests from family members for not being allowed inside Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), the State health department has decided to install digital TV screens in all the 64 units in Tamil Nadu to enable them watch the care being provided to babies inside.
The initiative is an attempt by the government to make clear to family members the treatment being given to newborns and the kind of equipment being used, said Dr S Srinivasan, coordinator, State Nodal Centre-National Rural Health Mission at the Institute of Child Health, here on Monday.
At present, relatives are not allowed inside Level II and Level III units where children in very serious condition are admitted to avoid infection. While the mother is allowed to see the baby at regular intervals, the father is allowed inside only once in a day.
“A five-inch digital TV screen will be placed outside NICU centres. There will be a mobile camera which the staff nurse inside will take to every bed and call out the mother. The camera will be placed near the child for about two minutes for the mother and relatives to see. This will avoid unnecessary doubts about the treatment. This will be a routine work between 10 to 11 am and 4 to 5 pm every day,” Dr Srinivasan explained.
The system became operational in Dharmapuri, Namakkal, and Salem government hospitals two days ago.
On Monday, the facility was inaugurated in Tiruchy, Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur hospitals. In another two days, it would be extended to all the five hospitals in Chennai - Institute of Child Health and Hospital, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, RSRM, Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children, and Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. In another three to five days, all the 64 centres in Tamil Nadu will be covered, Dr Srinivasan added.